Brian Coll captures 2012 Conshohocken in book of photos

By M. ENGLISH, For The Times Herald

Saturday, January 19, 2013

If you were anywhere near Matsonford Bridge on New Year’s Eve, say around 2 p.m., you might have noticed significantly more people than usual on the Conshohocken-West Conshohocken span. In fact, nearly 200 of them — men, women, children … even a few family pooches.

An early au revoir to 2012?Sort of.

Seems Conshohocken photographer Brian Coll had posted a Facebook invite to anyone interested in posing for the final visual in his new book — preliminarily titled “Conshohocken: The Year in Pictures 2012.” In short, Coll, with assistance from dad Jack and in-house backup from mom Donna and sister Jackie, had spent the entire year shooting at least one photo a day — every day — of Conshohockenites at work and leisure. A mid-afternoon crowd shot on the bridge? Twenty or 25 people maybe? The perfect way to wrap things up.

Or so Coll thought.When friends began responding enthusiastically — and affirmatively — he decided to notify the borough’s fire police.

“Better to be safe than sorry,” he reasoned.

And as he approached Fayette and Elm streets around 1:30 p.m. Dec. 31, Coll figured he had erred on the side of “overkill.” Yeah, there were a couple of small groups dotting the area. But a crowd? Not exactly. At least, not until he cleared the corner at Washies firehouse.

The resulting shots, taken mid-bridge — with Mayors Robert Frost of Conshohocken and Joseph Pignoli of West Conshohocken present — were “pretty awesome,” Coll says. “To be honest, even better than I’d imagined when we got the idea for the picture there.”

Which might well describe “Conshohocken: The Year in Pictures 2012” as a whole, the local man admits.

All told, the Colls ended the year with some 17,000 color photos — roughly 1,200 to 1,500 of which will make it into the self-published 12-by-12-inch volume. Although the concept isn’t new, Coll sees the local version as something of a counterpoint to the numerous photo books his father has authored or edited, some of them with his assistance.

A 1992 graduate of this area’s former Archbishop Kennedy High School, he “can’t remember a time that a camera … watching my father take pictures or work with pictures” wasn’t a key part of his life.

“That was probably the real starting point for this,” he explains. “The local history books are great, but I think something like this appeals to a audience … to people who might not be as interested in the town’s past as in what Conshohocken has to offer now.

“I always say, I don’t understand how anyone could be bored in Conshohocken … because there’s always something going on, something to do. And I mean right here in town, not just stuff that’s happening close by in Philadelphia. I grew up here, and I love the place. The town has a heartbeat. That’s why even though the initial idea was a photo a day, there are actually multiple pictures for most days.”

According to Coll, who runs Coll’s Custom Framing with his father, all of those pictures are dominated by people and most — unlike the New Year’s Eve bridge shot — are not posed: From the guy installing transmissions at a local body shop to the “naturally photogenic” toddler playing in Mary Wood Park. From visitors to community events like Conshohocken’s annual FunFest and Soap Box Derby to attendees at poignant ceremonies like (recently shuttered) Conshohocken Catholic School’s final May Procession or the Christmas Eve service at First Baptist Church of Conshohocken, leveled by fire nearly eight years ago.

“The church isn’t scheduled to reopen ‘til later this year … they’re still working on the interior … but they got a onetime occupancy permit to allow the service on Christmas Eve,” Coll says. “That was really something special.”

As are the book’s celebrity shots, he adds.

“We have (actress) Maria Bello casually smoking a cigarette with her sister, Lisa (James), an artist who lives in the borough (and was also immortalized as she installed a mosaic at Fayette Street’s Aim High fitness studio on Oct. 18); (football legend) Ron Jaworski on Fayette Street with the Soul football team, which he co-owns; (actor) Jon Voight; former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani; Ed Rendell, who was in the area for a book signing; (and) Chubby Checker (of ‘Twist’ fame), who has an office near our frame shop, standing out front with one of our customers who just happened to be in the shop when Chubby poked his head in the front door and said, ‘Hey, I hear you want to take my picture …’

“Who knew … all these people in this little, one-square-mile town. It’s a small world.”

In the end, Coll says he believes the book’s massive editing process is being driven by the photos.

“The pictures are really guiding us,” he continues. “With many of them, you just know they belong in the book. They just speak to you.”

Might this evolve as an annual publication?

Not likely.“The book was a unique project in a lot of ways … kind of a pictorial time capsule,” Coll says. “Yes, seeing all those people on the bridge on New Year’s Eve was a real rush. And we’ve even had people come into the shop asking to be superimposed into the shot … which we won’t do. But getting up on Jan. 1 and realizing that I didn’t have to get a picture that day, that was a real rush, too. I’m looking forward to just taking pictures for the joy of doing it.”

Coll expects “Conshohocken: The Year in Pictures 2012” to be in print by mid-March. The book is priced at $52.99 and must be pre-ordered by Feb. 20. Additional information is available by calling 610-825-7072 or visiting Coll’s Custom Framing, 324 Fayette St., Conshohocken.